Friday 8 January 2016

Month9Books Friday Reveal + Giveaway - Chapter Reveal: Temper (Lifer #2) by Beck Nicholas

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Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!


This week, we are revealing the first chapter of

Temper (Lifer #2) by Beck Nicholas

an upcoming Month9Books title!


Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!





Temper_eCover_1800x2700


FREEDOM COMES WITH A PRICE.

Free from the spaceship and reunited with Samuai, Asher should be happy. But thoughts of her dead family weigh heavily on her mind.

Things worsen when temper problems in camp lead to a murder. When Asher volunteers to get the drug need to calm people down, tension ignites.

Loyalties are questioned.

Jealousy rears its head. Sparks fly.

And when rumor of a second ship hits close to home, all bets are off.

Have the aliens returned? Is this the end of everything Asher has ever known?


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Temper (Lifer #2) by Beck Nicholas
Publication Date: Feb. 23, 2015

Publisher: Month9Books






excerpt





Chapter One

[Asher]

They come for me at nighttime.

They gather around in the darkness, cold and empty

and begging me to feel something. I welcome them, the ghosts of

those who’ve died for my freedom. A freedom I thought would

solve everything, or at the very least be better than the Lifer

sentence I’d been destined to live out before the revolution and

the truth of our incarceration.

In my head, Mother is loudest, demanding answers for the

loss of her son. If I can find out exactly what happened to my

brother, Zed, maybe I’ll find peace.

As I sit alone, guarding the rocky outcrop above the field

where the rabbits we brought over the mountains are penned,

a part of me longs for the Pelican and the safety of the world I

knew on board the ship. My world might have sucked, but there

was comfort in the known. Comfort in the certainty of my place

in the order of things.

The splat of the first drops of water on my makeshift shelter

has my fingers tightening on the Q I hold. I’m on my feet before

the shine of drops on the foliage around me registers in my sleepdeprived

brain. It’s nothing but rain. Simple, brilliant rain. A

marvel after a lifetime inside. It’s not the Company attack we’ve

been expecting since we set up camp here on the other side of the

Upheaval Mountains. But understanding doesn’t let me relax. I’d

rather fight—it’s the waiting that has us all on edge.

Single drops become a patter, and the plump rabbits below

move to huddle in the shelter of the overhang on which I perch.

I step out and lift my face to the cloud-filled sky, letting the water

run over my cheeks and down my neck to dampen the ship-issued

singlet I still wear. If Samuai recognizes it as his that his mother

gave me when I thought he was dead, he hasn’t said anything.

Once we would have talked about it because we talked and kissed

every chance we could. Not now. Since he returned, everything

that happened while he was gone has built a mountain between

us too big for young love to overcome.

I open my mouth, and water drops fall on my tongue, fresh

and clean, and missing the faint plastic taint everything had on

the ship. A taste I learned now not integral in the liquid itself,

but rather a product of the recycling method used. Or worse, a

result of whatever it is they did to us to make us immune to the

weapon that still has some of our allies in a Q-induced coma,

fighting for life.

While most of us sleep in simple tents, one of the few intact

buildings at the settlement site is used as a hospital. The setup is

basic, but the equipment is a collection of the best of what we

could remove from the medical bay of the ship, and the green

robes’ own supplies from their former hideout.

Once, it would have moved me to see families sitting in vigil

next to their loved ones. But I have nothing left for them now.

The Company took everything from me when they killed my

brother and mother. All that is left in me is the hope of revenge.

I sense, rather than see, the small shape moving through the

bushes below. A flash of white eyes and a blur of brown. Time

for guard duty. I steady the Q and aim for a rock in front of the

creature. The weapon that once only worked on living things is

now more useful. A press of the button and what was a boulder

now becomes chunks of gravel. Undeterred, the creature slinks

low onto its belly, ribs clear even from this distance. It’s ignoring

the threat of me above, its starving hunter’s instincts focused on

a plump rabbit.

I aim closer, fire again. A rock explodes right in front of the

dog’s nose. A yelp pierces the air. “Get away,” I shout. I don’t

want another death on my conscience.

I breathe again when it disappears into the undergrowth. It

will be back, I’m sure, but hopefully not while I’m here.

There’s movement on the path a few feet below. I straighten

and try to see through the gloom. Something strides over the

crumbling rock with ease, sending no cascade of rocks and gravel

behind. Too big to be another wild dog. Too early to be the changeover

for the next watch. My blood sings. Confrontation at last.

I lift my weapon, prepare to attack. “Don’t move.”

The shape ignores my barked command and continues

toward me. My muscles tighten, ready to spring.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Davyd says, stepping into a

small clearing at the top of the cliff. There’s something intimate

about the way he speaks, as though we have some kind of

connection. Like he knows me.

I exhale, but don’t relax my stance. It shouldn’t be light

enough to see him clearly, but I do. I see the details of lean hips

in training pants and the singlet fitted to every hard muscle and

meet eyes I know are ice gray.

“That’s hardly a brilliant deduction,” I snap. “It’s my watch.

The schedule is posted on the board where anyone can see.”

“But last night wasn’t supposed to be your watch.” His pause

is deliberate. “Or the night before.”

Only he would notice I’ve been volunteering for extra night

shifts protecting the animals we brought from the ship from stray

dogs running around our new settlement. Anything to avoid the

community that feels as much like a cage as the spaceship ever

did. Only the bars are of my guilt and regret and the questions I

can’t bring myself to ask.

“It’s no secret,” I say, trying for casual but unable to hide the

strain in my voice. I hate the way he makes everything I mean to

say come out all wrong.

His mouth kicks up at the corner but he remains silent. The

rain has made his blond hair dark, and if I squint, I can almost

see Samuai, his brother and the boy I thought I’d love forever.

The boy I last saw laughing at dinner a few hours ago with his

green robe friends. The boy I have been avoiding for the weeks

we’ve been here.

I fold my arms. Davyd’s no longer my master. In this new age

of freedom, those who were once superior Fishie and lowly Lifer

are now equals in the war against the Company who tricked us

all.

“What do you want?” I spit the question.

“You.”

My traitorous body heats at the intensity in the single word.

“No chance in hell.”

“But there is a chance? Hell, huh?” He lifts his hands in the

air, his eyes making a sweep of the jagged, barren rock exposed

by the earthquakes that were part of the Upheaval all those years

ago. It’s as though in unspeakable agony the very earth has tried

to push out its insides. “Does this qualify?”

I breathe in. The scent of rain on the rich soil where we keep

the rabbits fills my lungs. It should be heaven to be able to farm

like I always wanted, but the darkness inside me makes enjoying

it impossible. I shake myself free of might-have-beens. It is what

it is. All I can do is move forward, move on. “Go away. I don’t

want to play your games.”

“That’s not what you said back at the ship.” He steps closer,

uncaring that my body tenses. “It might have been weeks ago but

I only need close my eyes and the memory is right there. You and

me … I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the night of the ball?”

“The night of the rebellion when we Lifers gained our rightful

place as free people. People who are no longer forced to serve you

Fishies to pay for our ancestor’s sins.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

I do. Damn him, I do. Before the fighting and the fire and the

shock of Samuai’s return from the dead, there was the ball and

the dress and his arms around my waist and his tongue teasing

between my parted lips.

“Admit it,” he says softly. “You’ve been thinking about it.”

My vision blurs. All I can see is the smug smile on his face.

Like always, goading me, trying to make me break. “It meant

nothing.” I don’t recognize the voice that scrapes from my tight,

raw throat. “Nothing.”

“Really?”

“Really. It was an act.” I let my lip curl. “Surely you could

tell.”

His mouth twitches.

Did I hit a nerve? A moment later his mask of assurance is

back. “So you’ve talked about it with my brother? That kiss we

shared, the intimate press of our bodies. Sought out some time

alone to clear the air and get back to how things were before

between you two.”

I swallow. My hands grip the rock behind me. I didn’t realize

I’d backed up, but I revel in the sharp edge; feel the sting of flesh

breaking and press harder. What I really want to do is close the

distance between us and punish him.

“We will talk. Relocating from the spaceship hasn’t left a lot

of time for deep and meaningful conversations.” I don’t intend

to explain anything to him, but the defense slips out and hangs

lamely between us. The same lie I’ve been telling myself.

The truth is, Samuai and I haven’t spoken properly since the

aftermath of the fight outside the Pelican; I’ve done everything I

can to avoid him. If we speak, he’ll know what I’ve become. Or

worse, he’ll think I’m the same.

“But I’ve found you,” says Davyd. “We’re all alone with

plenty of opportunity for talking … or other things.”

He’s laughing at me again. Damn him. Would it be so hard

for him to leave me alone for once with the stories I tell myself

that allow me to keep going?

Anger surges up inside me, claws at my throat, wanting to

get out. It’s not like I want Samuai to choose me over his new

friends. I have nothing for him now. The love that once flowed

through me isn’t so much gone than blasted out. I’m not the girl

he left behind.

“Why do you do this?”

“Come and talk to you?” He frowns. “We’re old friends from

the ship. We have to stick together.”

“We have never been friends.”

“Allies?” He moves even closer, and I arch back hard against

the rock, just to keep him

mountains?”

He ignores my jab. “They do now. We need to fight, and we

need to make plans.”

The urgency in his voice sparks something inside me. A

flicker of drive where for weeks there’s been only emptiness.

“from touching me. “I’m here because you know this isn’t happily

ever after. Nothing is resolved, and we can’t do anything about it

until you admit there’s something wrong.”

“With Samuai?”

A pulse throbs in his jaw. “Forget my brother. He’s too busy

buddying up to the green robes, and he’s forgotten the real

enemy.”

“The Company?”

“Yes. They locked us up, lied to us, experimented on us,

and what have we done in return? Killed a few officers and then

scurried like rats to hide in the mountains.”

“Do rats even hide in Attack the Company?”

He ignores my sneer. “Why not? Those of us from the ship are

impervious to their great weapon. We have strength and speed.

They’ve made us strong. I say we use the way they’ve enhanced

us against them.”

No wonder Davyd is never lonely for female company. I

hate him and yet find it hard not to get caught up in his desire.

His voice, his energy, echoes the need for revenge that keeps me

awake at night. But inside me lingers the voice of reason, too.

“We need to establish a secure base.”

“You mean give them time to organize an attack?”

“Maybe they’re not. We escaped them before. They could be

cutting their losses.”

“Do you really believe that?”

I push past him to stand at the edge of the cliff. From here I

can see the settlement off in the distance, glowing with light in

the darkness. Filled with the green robes who’ve been resisting

the Company for years and with the people the Company were

breeding for battle.

“They’re not going to take the loss of decades of investment

in their little spaceship program well,” I admit eventually.

“They’re going to come for their property. I don’t intend to be

sitting waiting for collection when they do.”

He’s including himself. Back on the ship he was important

as the head Official, Fishie’s, son. Out here he’s just another

specimen with no idea what the Company has done to him.

We’ve all been violated, and we don’t even know how.

“What’s your plan?”

He runs a hand through his wet hair, scattering water drops.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. If I go to the council

as a lone voice then they’ll shoot me down; but together we could

present a case for action.”

“Why me?”

“Apart from this special connection we have?”

In a few swift steps my hand is around his throat. “Don’t

push me.”

“Look at you, taking any excuse to touch me. It’s almost

romantic,” he squeaks.

The rain has cleared, and the clouds thin, letting the moon

light up his perfect, mocking face.

My fingers tighten. I’m squeezing, feeling the muscles and

tendons give way to my pressure; his airway begins to cut off. The

anger inside me glories in the way his eyes bulge and his lips part

in a desperate gasp for oxygen.

He doesn’t move to defend himself.

I hold his hateful gaze for one second, two. Now I have all the

power. It spreads hot tendrils through me, giving me strength.

My vision blurs, and spots appear in front of my eyes. I could

shut him up forever.

Squeeze a little tighter.

It would be so easy. All I need to do is …

Nothing. I drop my hand and crumble to my knees, pressing

my forehead to the rocky ground. Shudders wrack my body as I

rock back and forth.

What have I become?

Somewhere above me he sucks in a shaky breath. “Temper,

temper,” he says softly.

My eyes sting, but no tears will fall. “Leave me alone.”

“Until the rage inside you overtakes everything else? Until

you do something you can’t undo?”

“I warned you not to push me.” I grasp hold of that fact. I

did warn him. He drove me to act, goaded me until I didn’t have

a choice.

But did his teasing deserve death?

I block out the voice in my head. But I can’t ignore the one

a few feet away.

“This isn’t grief making you act this way,” he says, kneeling in

front of me. “And you’re not the only one who’s losing control.”

“Don’t make excuses.”

“I’m not.”

His hand brushes the top of my head where my hair has

grown into soft fuzz. It’s been weeks since Lifer regulations of

shaved heads have been left behind. Electricity skitters across

my skin when he touches my forehead, and it dampens the rage

within. As the anger in me cools, I find the strength to lift my

head. “I’m guessing you have a theory?”

His mouth curves. “I would say ‘that’s my girl’ since you

worked it out so fast, but I don’t have a death wish. I suspect you

don’t belong to anyone.”

Against all reason, I smile at the hint of admiration in his

voice. I curl up and wrap my hands around my knees. I let myself

look up at him, relieved when the marks on his neck are already

fading. “There are others?”

“You’re the first who’s actually tried to kill me, but surely

you’ve noticed the fights in food lines? The shoving over shower

use? The extra injuries in the practice fights that go too far?”

Guilt nibbles at the back of my mind. Why didn’t I notice

any of this? “I haven’t been around much.”

“Believe me, it’s only a matter of time before someone from

the ship loses control. Probably a Lifer.”

“Because we’re less sophisticated.”

His eyes don’t quite meet mine. “Because whatever it is

they’ve done, I believe they’ve done it to you more. The hardships

you’ve faced as a group, it’s made you … stronger for lack of a

better word.”

I want to argue but I remember too well how easily I could

have crushed his throat. Only weeks ago when we fought in the

low gravity training rooms on the ship, he could overpower me

without breaking a sweat. “Something’s changed.”

“But I can’t work out what.”

The rain begins to fall again. I close my eyes and let it cool

my skin. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to water falling from the

sky. I’ve been too long in an artificial environment where every

molecule I’ve ingested came from a particular source.

I jump to my feet. “The ship.”

Davyd blinks up at me. “What about it?”

“They had control of our food and water.” I pace around

him as I think aloud. “What if they were drugging us to keep us

pliable? Now, without the drug, the changes they’ve made have

no check, nothing to keep control.”

“But we brought the majority of the food and water

production with us.”

“It’s the Nauts.” In my urgency, I slip back to calling our

leaders by the old name from when we thought those in the gray

suits were piloting us in space. It takes a beat before I correct

myself. “The Company added it themselves to the water, or

maybe the very air we breathed. Don’t you see? It’s a part of them

having control over the experiment. We have our own inbuilt

self-destruct sequence. We’ll all turn on each other before we can

possibly rise against them.”

“They’re the only ones who can save us.”

“But they want to destroy us.”

“We’ll take the fight to them, there must be a way.” Anything

else Davyd might have said is cut off by a bang from the direction

of the settlement.

“Did you hear that?” I ask.

But he’s already running. “Come on.”

“But I’m supposed to be on guard.”

He spares me a glance over his broad shoulder. A look that

shines through the darkness and the drizzle and slices through to

my soul. “You play babysitter for some rabbits if you want to. I’m

going to fight.”

I hesitate a beat. Long enough for him to disappear down the

trail. This time his hurried steps send rock and gravel tumbling,

and the sound echoes over distant shouts. The sound of a battle.

My longing to be alone wars with the need to know what’s

happening, and the fact that no matter how much I want to, I

can’t sever all links with those who came with me from the ship.

Q tight in my hand, I run.







About-the-Author



Beck-Nicholas-head-shot-248x300


I always wanted to write. I’ve worked as a lab assistant, a pizza delivery driver and a high school teacher but I always pursued my first dream of creating stories. Now, I live with my family near Adelaide, halfway between the city and the sea, and am lucky to spend my days (and nights) writing young adult fiction.


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